Maybe like cheese curds and snowmobiles, the Jermichael Finley-Aaron Rodgers-chemistry storyline is the kind of thing that makes sense only if you’re in Wisconsin.
Because from afar, it seems like far more ink is spilled on this particular interpersonal relationship than is warranted.
The latest version of “Finley’s unhappy” came last week, though the interview was harvested before the Packers tight end played a key role in the win at Detroit.
But Rodgers said Tuesday afternoon during his radio show (comments from which were published in the wee hours of Wednesday at ESPNWisconsin.com) that he and Finley had no problems, and that the story didn’t change their relationship.
“Most of the time if something is said, whether it came out wrong or maybe it did come out the way they want it to, I have an open door policy at my locker. Come talk to me, and if you don’t, I’m going to come talk to you probably,” Rodgers said. “In that situation though, it was so far after the fact. Whenever the interview was done, I think it was Thursday before Detroit, we talked on [that] Saturday and had a great conversation. . . . In my opinion, there was nothing in that story that was going to come between our relationship. I didn’t really see the correlation between that story and anything that we had talked about on Saturday. So there was, in my opinion, no reason to talk to him about it.”
In Sunday’s loss to the Giants, Finely dropped a pass, and Rodgers went right back his direction, which he said suggests the level of trust he has.
“With Jermichael, I think it’s been about getting on the same page and spending some time together,” Rodgers said. “And I think the thing I appreciate about him over the last three or four weeks is just how he really has been a good teammate. I think he really has. He cares about his guys; he’s been intentional about spending time with me and wanting to make sure we’re on the same page. And I think it’s helped. I really do think it’s helped.
“I think the best is still in front of him for this season and I think there’s going to be even more opportunities as we go. I really like what I’ve seen from him and I think he’s going to be important to us as we make this stretch run.”
OK, now that they’ve hugged it out, maybe this story will go away.